Friends
by Arlene
Summary: Kon-El teachers Tim about friendship


Disclaimer: Not mine, DC owns them. No money is being made by this piece of fiction.

Friends

By Arlene

Something poked his side. Without opening his eyes, Timothy Drake grunted and waved it away. He was poked again. His hand flapped at the annoyance yet again.

"Come on, widdle Timmy, rise and shiiiine!" 

Tim ignored the voice. Kon-El was sounding way too chipper for this ungodly hour of the morning. At the unrelenting prodding, he finally groaned, "I'll rise, but I won't shine. You can't make me."  


"Wanna bet, Bird Boy?"

Tim muttered an obscenity.

Superboy stepped back in shock at the retort. "Dang, but you're a bear after you wake up! 'Sides, I don't think that's physically possible. And even if it was, I doubt that Bane would hold still long enough."

By now, Tim had had enough. He glared at the Kid of Steel. "Coffee now or die slowly." 

Kon held up his hands in defeat. "Okay! Okay! Nerts, dude. No wonder Bats picked you for a partner. Grumpy little . . ." He continued mumbling on his way to the kitchen.

Tim rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling of his quarters. Go back to sleep? No, Kon would keep bothering him. He crawled out of bed and went to the bathroom. Maybe a shower would wake him up.

Fifteen minutes later, he emerged, feeling only slightly more alert. He needed his coffee. Now. He stalked into the kitchen, hoping that Kon had taken his threat seriously. Seeing him enter, Kon handed him a steaming mug and sat down in his seat again. Tim grunted his thanks.

Kon waited until Tim took a sip before speaking. "Has anger solved your other problems?"

Tim glared. "Yes." It was obvious the caffeine hadn't kicked in yet.

A few more minutes passed in silence. Kon really didn't like this role reversal. He liked being the hothead in this relationship. Being levelheaded was just so boring.

Bart Allen ran through the kitchen. "Ididn'tdoit! Youcan'tproveit! Nobodysawme! Thesheeparelying!" It was a credit to Max's training that Bart had enough control to pause in between sentences. The two boys at the table ignored him.

Wonder Girl flew after him carrying a lamb with a bald spot on its hindquarters. "Oh, I don't think so! Imp! 'Wool-gathering' doesn't actually mean . . . " The boys ignored this intrusion also.

Kon tested the waters again. "You're a fun date, but the morning after--Yeesh!" He knew he was safe when Tim looked at him and sighed. Sighing was a good sign. However, Cassie and Bart immediately froze and gaped at the pair.

Tim shrugged and tried to explain. "Watched a movie, had a pizza. I wouldn't call it a 'date' per se, but hey, man, whatever floats your boat." Tim caught Kon's eye and nodded at Cassie.   


Kon's eyes widened as it hit him. He could see his chances of scoring with her going down the tubes. "Uh, no, Cass, see, it wasn't like that, I mean, we didn't do nuthin', we're not, well, at least *I'm* not . . . " He looked desperately at Tim, who merely batted his eyelashes back at him. That'll teach the Kid to wake him up again. Heh. He smirked evilly. "Gee, Kon, I though it meant something. When you cried during 'Beaches,' well, gosh, I thought you were so sensitive--"

"Shut up! Cass, c'mon! It's not what it sounds like!"

Bart nodded and started sniffing. "It's okay, Kid, I cried during 'Beaches' too. When she--when she, and then Bette Midler--!" He zipped out of the kitchen in search of a tissue.

Cassie backed away from Kon and let the squirming animal go. "Oh no, it's okay, Kon, I just gotta, you know, process this . . . " She left the room in a daze.

Kon glared at Timothy, who was innocently sipping at his coffee. "What was that for! Dude!"

"Don't start with me," Tim spoke in a mellow voice, "you will not win."

Bart walked in, wiping his eyes and blowing his nose. "It was a real good movie, you know."

Tim decided to take pity upon the speedster. "Hey, Bart, would you mind taking the lamb back to its home? I think the poor thing's a little stressed."

Bart perked up at that, always eager to help. "Sure, no prob, Rob." He gently picked up the skittish creature and crooned to it. "Don't worry, girl, er, boy, er, uh, sheep. I'll take care of you," and he was off again.

Back to the matter at hand. "Kid, what did I tell you last night?"

"Um, leave you alone?"

Tim nodded sagely. "Yes. And then what happened?"

"I, uh, didn't."

"Very good. And then?"

"You told me to leave you alone again?"

"Yes, I did. Keep going, you're doing fine."

"And then, I, well . . . okay, all right already, I get the point. But still, dude! What you just did was so unkewl!"

"And what did I just do?"

"You let Cass think we're a couple! Involved! Like, totally diggin' each other, know what I mean?"

"I'm not the one who made the date comment, nor the morning after thing. Anyway, technically, we are a couple, that being two of something. We were involved, as we were both talking. Now the digging each other part, I gotta think about that one--"

Kon paced angrily on the tiled floor. "I'm trying to see things your way, dude, but I can't seem to get my head up my butt."

"I should hope not, or Plasticman might be out of a job. Instead of the 'Teen of Steel,' we'd have to called you the 'Teen of Rubber.'" Cassie chose this inopportune moment to reenter the room. Upon hearing the comment, she immediately spun on her heel and walked out, muttering to herself, "It's been lovely, but I have to scream now . . . "

Realizing things were getting out of hand, Tim laughed out loud as Kon's ears were turning pink. "I-I'm like sooo sorry, man, I had no idea sh-she'd--" He broke off in more laughter, burying his head in his arms on the table.

Caught in indecision, Kon was divided between running after Cass and turning the Laughing Loser over there into a red smear on the floor. Or just screaming. Screaming was good.

Tim finally lifted his head up, his eyes still tearing, as his chuckling continued. Bart zipped back in and saw Tim's tears, which reminded him of why he had been sad before and why he was still holding a crumpled tissue in his hand, which reminded his of the one scene in 'Beaches' which totally made him lose it, and if Rob was crying, well then, then, he was probably sad, too, which made Bart feel even sadder, which caused him to zip back out of the room yet again, bawling his eyes out and looking for more tissue.

"Okay, I'm sorry, Kon. But last night, I just had to get away from everything, be alone, you know? To think about stuff, dumb stuff, like 'What if the Hokey Pokey really is what it's all about?'" Kon snorted at that.  


"I needed to get away from the Robin gig, away from school, Batman, my parents, everything and just *be.* I've tried before, I mean I took a trip with a friend and, well, the yeti were, like, the least of my problems--" at Kon's confused look, he hurried on, "and being here at the HQ seems to be the safest place to do that. To get away from it all. Well, with the exception of one time," he amended. The memory of that incident still made him shudder. "Sometimes, it's just that the stress gets to me, you know?"

"Okay, I get the privacy thing. I mean, yeah, I understand the whole concept of down time, but why couldn't you just tell me? I mean, we're friends, right? Right?" Kon asked uncertainly. "We *are* friends, aren't we, Tim?" 

Tim smiled. "Yeah, Kon, we're friends. Just last night, well, I was in a bad mood and only slept for a couple hours this week . . . " He heaved a sigh. "Actually, that's no excuse. I could've at least been civil. Maybe I guess I'm still wrapping my head around the ID thing: Batman screwed me over by telling Spoiler, which totally messed with my head, and in like practically an instant," he snapped his fingers, "you all know who I am." He laughed mirthlessly. "Y'know the real kicker? Sometimes *I* don't know who I am." He slumped in his chair and stared at the table. "Or I could be going crazy. Always that possibility. I hear Arkham's nice this time of year," he joked feebly. 

Kon nodded in sympathy. "Yeah, I can see how you need to get away an' get your head straight. I'm sorry, man, I didn't realize . . . it's just that you're s'posed to be the sane one. We're the ones you're s'posed to fix, man. I mean, you da Man, da Man with da Plan." Seeing his opening at Tim's smirk, he pressed on, "I'm gonna take charge for an itty bitty bit here. Listen up good, boy, cuz I ain't repeating this anytime soon."

When he had Tim's full attention, he became serious. "You have trust issues. Right from the beginning of YJ, you had to hold something back. Yeah, I know it wasn't your choice, it was for the good of the Bat, but, hey, secrecy's the name of his game. But I want you to know, it doesn't have to be *your* game, at least not around here, not around me. You said it, we're friends. Friends trust each other, rely and depend on each other. Friends also support each other. I know you're not perfect, so quit trying to carry the world on your shoulders. Someday, that'll be my job. And friends don't steal another friend's job. You dig?" Kon looked at him worriedly.

Tim was overwhelmed. "Um, thanks. I mean, like, thanks. I didn't know you cared. Lately, I didn't think anyone cared . . . " He shook himself from his introspection. "You're right, sometimes, it's just hard to let go for a while. Especially with friends."

"You're a good talker, Rob, but it'd be healthier if you talked about yourself more. If you don't say anything, how're you're friends s'posed to help you?"

Tim shook his head. "Kon, how'd you get so smart? It's kinda scary."

Kon waved his hand carelessly. "Eh, my cult-like following is now accepting applications. To pay tribute, just sign up. Line forms on the right."

"Listen, really, thanks. It's good to know that someone's here for me. It's been kinda rough lately."

"I'm pretty sure that goes for the rest of the team, Rob. Except Slobo. He can be a fraggin' idiot."

"Amen to that." They shook hands earnestly. Still holding hands, Tim said, "Just, please, the next time I'm in bed--"

Cassie appeared in the doorway. Timing was indeed everything. "Screw you guys, I'm going home." She flew off. 

Kon pulled back his hand and jumped up. "NERTS!"

Tim snickered. "Let her go, Kon, I think it's better if I explained everything."

Kon collapsed back in his chair. "You got that right. Crap." They remained way in companionable silence: Kon absently tracing patterns on the tabletop, Tim mindlessly swirling his now-cold coffee in his mug, both thinking about their talk. Tim finally cleared his throat. Kon looked up at him curiously.

"I guess it started last week. My dad started paying more attention to me, and that should be a good thing, right? But just I felt totally smothered . . . "

End


End file.
